Monday, January 12, 2009

More accurately, I'm missing the guys and gals I ran with during my time at WIDB in Carbondale. I won't get long-winded about it but I met some fine people that are lingering in my mind this evening, so I'm dropping a couple of joints that got a fair amount of burn back then.

Serengeti - Dirty FlamingoFrom the album of the same name, Dirty Flamingo (after being made to ask by my co-host during an interview, I was assured that the term doesn't really mean anything) was damn near anthemic amongst the Hip Hop heads at SIUC. The only thing that topped it? 'Geti's in character ode to Chi-town, "Dennehy" or its sequel "Ozzie Guillen" which are both on the album the album Dennehy. The former tore down Hangar 9 (the bar where most of the Hip Hop shows in town went down) whenever it was performed. One of my best memories of it was on the night the White Sox won the World Series in '05. Even though I was one of the few people in the place that wasn't a native of Chicago, it was hard not to feel like an honorary Southside resident.

Seel Fresh - StarvingI got this joint via one of the first pieces of vinyl that F5 Records (a label started in St. Louis by SIUC scene alums) ever sent to me. You can actually still cop it from their website. While not my absolute favorite joint out of my time in the 'Dale, I always felt this one pretty tough just 'cause of the earnestness of the lyrics and how so many cats were in the same place with what they were trying to do at the time, be it the music or some other grind. A line about how Seel will finally manage once he has his time in the spotlight when it comes always makes me grin when I hear it: "And I won't be nervous like I'm hidin' a bomb/I'll be ear-to-ear smilin', wavin' high to my mom." I often wondered what became of him, so back in October before I got this blog off the ground it did my heart good to see him pop up on Rock the Dub with a series of sanctioned leaks for his most recent album Street Famous. Cop it via the link at Amazon and support some dope indie Chicago Hip Hop.